The Indian Institutes of Information Technology set up under the Public Private Partnership mode may soon get degree awarding powers with the HRD Ministry planning to grant them more autonomy and declare them as "institutions of national importance."

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has prepared a draft bill in this regard which has already been sent for consideration by the Cabinet.

According to HRD Ministry officials, the process for introduction of Indian Institute of Information Technology (Public Private Partnership) Bill, 2017 is underway.

"A draft of the bill has already been sent for consideration by the Cabinet. It has been proposed that IIITs set up in the PPP mode be declared as institutions of national importance to enable them to grant degrees," a senior official said.

"These institutes will further be enabled to develop new knowledge in information technology and provide manpower of global standards for the IT industry," the official added.

The HRD Ministry had announced to set up 20 new Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) across the country under PPP mode, out of which 15 are already functional in Chittor (AP), Guwahati, Vadodara, Kota, Srirangam (Tamil Nadu), Una (Himachal Pradesh), Sonepat (Haryana), Kalyani (WB), Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune, Ranchi, Kottayam, Kurnool (AP)and Dharwad (Karnataka).

The cost of each IIIT is Rs 128 crore and is contributed by the Centre, state government and the industry in the ratio of 50:35:15.

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